Disease prevention: What a difference 2 days can make!

Disease prevention: What a difference 2 days can make!

In uncertain times, like now during Covid-19, cost savings is often the first thing that comes to mind. Keeping cows healthy can save a farmer a lot per year.

Wageningen University in the Netherlands calculated that mastitis is costing a farmer € 240 (US$ 260) per lactating cow per year and can result in a loss of 336 kilogram (741 pounds) of milk.

Canadian research showed that lame cows produce around 1.7 kilogram (3.7 pounds) milk less per day.

Let Ida help you prevent unnecessary costs! When receiving a health alert in Ida, check the temperature of the cow and ask for veterinary advice when needed. This way, Ida can reduce days of treatment and hence total antibiotic use.

Experiences from Ida farmers already showed that money can be saved on mastitis, lameness and ketosis, thanks to Ida who is catching the sick cows at an early stage (up to 2 days earlier than a human eye can). Also pneumonia can be spotted early and early treatment of this severe condition can save the cow’s life.

The health insights that Ida provides are based on Artificial Intelligence and detection of anomalies in the cow’s behavior. As farmers are not in the barn 24/7, a sudden drop in lying time, rumination time or walking is not always spotted. This is where Ida comes in.

Treating mastitis earlier

Andy van Rossem is dairy farmer in Belgium and participated in a field trial, done by Connecterra and Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He clearly sees the benefits of the Ida health insights. “Knowing the early signs of sickness is one of the biggest wins of using this technology. Mastitis is one of the diseases that Ida detected at a very early stage. I get notified in the app when there is a little drop in ruminating and eating behavior of my cows. I can then check on them and start (preventive) treatment sooner. For a costly disease such as mastitis it makes all the difference to be 1-2 days earlier with the start of treatment”, Van Rossem explains.

About Ida

Ida is the first digital assistant for the dairy farmer, based on sensor technology, cloud computing and machine learning. Ida translates unique data on cow behavior into accurate and actionable insights. This makes farming more efficient improves animal health. The technology has been developed by Connecterra and is available in 16 countries, including the US and Canada. Ask for a free demo here.